William b



(No Model.) 7

W. B. W. HOWE, Jr., & A. GARTNER'.

AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKE.

Patented July '14-, 1885.

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:UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

WILLIAM B. W. HOWE, JR, AND-ALBERT GARTNER, OF SAVANNAH, GA.

AUTOMATIC AIR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 321,971, dated July 14, 1885.

Application filed June 2, 1 884.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM B. W. Hown, J r., and ALBERT GARTNER, both of Savannah, in the county of Ohatham and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Air-Brakes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention has special reference to improvements upon the brake now generally known as the Westinghouse automatic airbrake.

The invention as a mechanical appliance refers to a spring or equivalent device at; tached to the engineers brake-valve, the ob ject being to automatically change the brakev'alve lever or handle from the position to which it is brought for releasing brakes to the position which it occupies while the train is running With brakes off. By our invention the handle is automatically moved so that the proper ports of the valve are adjusted for the passage of air to adapt thebrakes to be applied under all emergencies by the usual discharge from the pipes.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional elevation of an engineer s brakevalve as constructed for the \Vestinghouse automatic air-brake with our invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan showing positions of the lever under different conditions. Fig. 3 is a view of a detail of the invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the respective figures.

In the Vvestinghouse automatic air-brake the brakes are applied by a reduction of pressure in the brake-pipe,which reduction causes the excess of pressure in the auxiliary reservoir to act through the medium of intermediate mechanism to apply the brakes. The releasing of the brakes is effected by increasing the pressure in the brake-pipe above that in the auxiliary reservoir. The engineers brake-valve is designed to vary the pressure in the brake-pipe, so as to apply the brakes suddenly or gradually or release the brakes.

In the drawings annexed, A is the engineers brake-valve, of which a is the handle; I), the connection to the main reservoir; 0, the passage leading to the brake-pipe; d, the dis- (No model.)

charge from the brake-pipe, and e the passage to the pressure-gage.

Fig. 1 shows the position for releasing brakes, the upper valve, h, leading to the atmosphere being kept closed by the compression of the spring 9, and the air passing from the main reservoir to the brake-pipe through the opening of the main valve h and the body of the upper or brake valve, h. Ordinarily in the use of the Westinghouse engineers brake-valve, after the brakes are off the lever a must be moved by hand a short distance to the right, which act turns the main valve h, so that the main passages to the brakepipe will be closed. This second position is shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. WVhile the handle is in this second position air passes through the small valve 7.; to the brake-pipe. To apply the brakes suddenly the lever is moved to the extreme right, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 2. Our invention produces the m0vement-of the lever from the first to the second position automatically by means, preferably, of the spring B, one end of which is secured by bolts Z to the flange Z, formed upon the upper portion of the valvecase. wise attached to the valve-case, so as to make no change in the ordinary construction of the latter. The preferred form of the spring is shown in plan viewin Fig. 3, the end 1 being free. A pin, m, projects from the lower or under side of the handle a. An extension of the ordinary screw of the handlespring bolt may be used for this pin. as shown. NVhen the handle a is moved to the first position shown in Fig. 2, the pin m strikes against the free end of the spring 13, which offers a flat bearing-surface, Z to it and forces out the spring to the position shown in dotted lines in the same figure. Upon the release of the handle the spring B exerts its force and automatically throws back the handle to the sec ond position.

The spring is inoperative upon the handle at any point in the movement of the latter, except between the first and second positions, having no action upon the handle at any of the points for graduating the force of the brake between the second and third positions.

It will be seen that by the use of our invention the handle is automatically moved to the The spring may, however, be other- ICO position which it must occupy to adjust the ports of the engineers brake-valve for the passage of air necessary to be discharged from the brake-pipe to apply the brakes.

Ve do not limit ourselves to a spring or to the construction of spring here shown, as any device which will automatically change the handle from the first to the second position will be the equivalent of our invention and within its scope.

\Ve claim- 1. As an improvement in the \Vestinghouse automatic air-brake system, an engineers brake-valve having a main valve capable of partial rotation, combined with a lever, and means, substantially as shown and described,

for automatically giving a limited rotation to said lever and main valve, as set forth.

2. The enginecrs brake-valve A and handle a, having the pin m, combined with the 20 spring B, having one end secured to said valve, and its other end free, and adapted to engage with the pin m, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set 25 our hands and seals this 22d day of May, A.

\VILLIAM W. HONVE, JR. [L. s.] ALBERT GARTNER. [L. s.] Witnesses:

EW. G. PARMATO, T. O. LEUTZE. 

